2008 Woodie Awards
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Proving it's not a false start
UO's No. 1 ranked cross country teams are out to prove they earned their titles
by Robert Husseman | Sports reporter
When the first gun fires at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, the Oregon men's and women's cross country teams will have officially hit the ground running in their 2008 season opener.
The Ducks, named the preseason number-one men's and women's teams in the nation in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association polls, will play host in the Bill Dellinger Invitational, at Springfield Country Club. The women's race will begin at 10:30 a.m. and is 6,000 meters long. The men's race follows it up at 11:15 a.m. and is 8,000 meters long.
All-American and 2007 NCAA runner-up Galen Rupp will not compete for the Oregon men and has
verbally stated his intention of starting his cross country season with the Pacific-10 Conference championships Oct. 31. Rupp, the 13th-place finisher at the 10,000m in the Beijing Olympics, is taking time off to recover from his Olympic debut just seven weeks ago. The Ducks will return all seven runners from last year's
national championship team, including four All-Americans:
Shadrick Kiptoo-Biwott (last year's Dellinger
Invitational runner-up), Kenny Klotz, and Daniel and
Diego Mercado.
On the women's side, six of the seven runners from the Ducks' second-place finish at the 2007 NCAA Championships return from last year - only Sarah Pearson has graduated. All-Americans Nicole Blood (the 2007
Dellinger Invitational individual champion) and Alex Kosinski will be joined by All-American senior transfer Melissa Grelli (Georgetown; 10th at the 2007 NCAAs) and senior transfers Lindsey Scherf (Harvard) and Mattie Bridgmon (Eastern Washington).
Four ranked opponents will challenge the Ducks on the men's side, including No. 5 Alabama, who placed sixth at the 2007 NCAAs, led by senior All-American Augustus Maiyo. No. 7 Portland, No. 12 UTEP, No. 21 Cal Poly, Penn State, Colorado State, UCLA, and Weber State will complete the field.
The Oregon women will be challenged by three ranked opponents - No. 11 Arkansas, No. 14 Colorado State, and No. 22 Brigham Young - as well as newfound
expectations. Ten of 12 first-place votes in the USTFCCCA poll went to the Ducks, and if last year's second-place finish was surprising, the No. 1 ranking is a minor upset.
The three ranked opponents, in addition to Cal-State Fullerton, Penn State, Portland, UTEP, and Wake Forest, will look to pressure the Ducks come Saturday.
"With that extra publicity comes a bit of a target on our back, but we're definitely going into the season with kind of the same mentality as last season," senior Zoe Nelson said.
"We just have to take it one race at a time and not think we have this great advantage, because we really don't."
rhusseman@dailyemerald.com
The Ducks, named the preseason number-one men's and women's teams in the nation in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association polls, will play host in the Bill Dellinger Invitational, at Springfield Country Club. The women's race will begin at 10:30 a.m. and is 6,000 meters long. The men's race follows it up at 11:15 a.m. and is 8,000 meters long.
All-American and 2007 NCAA runner-up Galen Rupp will not compete for the Oregon men and has
verbally stated his intention of starting his cross country season with the Pacific-10 Conference championships Oct. 31. Rupp, the 13th-place finisher at the 10,000m in the Beijing Olympics, is taking time off to recover from his Olympic debut just seven weeks ago. The Ducks will return all seven runners from last year's
national championship team, including four All-Americans:
Shadrick Kiptoo-Biwott (last year's Dellinger
Invitational runner-up), Kenny Klotz, and Daniel and
Diego Mercado.
On the women's side, six of the seven runners from the Ducks' second-place finish at the 2007 NCAA Championships return from last year - only Sarah Pearson has graduated. All-Americans Nicole Blood (the 2007
Dellinger Invitational individual champion) and Alex Kosinski will be joined by All-American senior transfer Melissa Grelli (Georgetown; 10th at the 2007 NCAAs) and senior transfers Lindsey Scherf (Harvard) and Mattie Bridgmon (Eastern Washington).
Four ranked opponents will challenge the Ducks on the men's side, including No. 5 Alabama, who placed sixth at the 2007 NCAAs, led by senior All-American Augustus Maiyo. No. 7 Portland, No. 12 UTEP, No. 21 Cal Poly, Penn State, Colorado State, UCLA, and Weber State will complete the field.
The Oregon women will be challenged by three ranked opponents - No. 11 Arkansas, No. 14 Colorado State, and No. 22 Brigham Young - as well as newfound
expectations. Ten of 12 first-place votes in the USTFCCCA poll went to the Ducks, and if last year's second-place finish was surprising, the No. 1 ranking is a minor upset.
The three ranked opponents, in addition to Cal-State Fullerton, Penn State, Portland, UTEP, and Wake Forest, will look to pressure the Ducks come Saturday.
"With that extra publicity comes a bit of a target on our back, but we're definitely going into the season with kind of the same mentality as last season," senior Zoe Nelson said.
"We just have to take it one race at a time and not think we have this great advantage, because we really don't."
rhusseman@dailyemerald.com
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